On Cannibals and Christians  

List the symptoms. We live in a time which has created the art of the absurd. It is our art. It contains happenings, pop art, camp, a theater of the absurd, a homosexual genius who spent thirty years as a …



The First Presidential Paper  

These short pieces were chosen because their subject matter is fit concern for a President. One is of course not throwing any disqualified devil’s wishes into the ring for oneself, no, no, these are the Presidential papers of a court …







A Program for the Nation  

Last August I received a letter from Esquire magazine. Its first two paragraphs read: Looking ahead to the 1960 presidential election, this magazine feels that it would be an interesting and useful undertaking to present the opinions of outstanding men …











The Tragedy at Parris Island  

OVER THE YEARS, I have had a few mixed feelings about the Marine Corps. It is not easy for me to defend them, yet in a curious way I suppose I respect the Marine Corps more than the Army. Discounting …



What I Think of Artistic Freedom?  

This article has an interesting origin, and may yet, have a small history. It was requested of several American writers including myself by Melvin Lasky, editor of “Der Monat” in West Berlin, and there is a chance that Bert Brecht, …



David Riesman Reconsidered  

The only review of Individualism Reconsidered by David Riesman (The Free Press, 1954) which I have seen up to this writing is a dithyrambic piece of Granville Hicks’ in The New Leader of July 19, 1954. He concludes his appreciation …